Shelter

Every Friday I will end the week with a roundup of all that I have been working on. You can enjoy pictures of yummy squishy goodness and I will be able to hold myself accountable for making these postings a little more regular. In addition, this will hopefully motivate me to be more productive on those knits I just cannot seem to finish!

First up this week!…

There are 3 WIP’s I am actively working on at this moment. They include a simple hat for my hubby; a sweet little test knit for a fellow Insta-knitter, and my own indulgence the Masala Shawl by Michelle Wang for Quince & Co.

As I was working on this post throughout the week I have had to make regular updates here regarding my first WIP. It’s now finished! It is the “Hat to Match” pattern from Purl Soho which I modified to use Brooklyn Tweed’s Shelter. I have actually made a few of these for myself as it is a quick knit (in Shelter that is…) for a nice handknit staple. The original pattern/ yarn written in Purl’s pattern I have also made which is one of my absolute favorites as well.

Unfortunately I unknowingly was playing Yarn Chicken and ended up about 1 yard short; with 3-4 rows left in the whole hat! Thankfully I got a lovely assist from another color in my stash and I now know that 1 skein of Brooklyn Tweed is just a little short on yardage for a slouchy “man” hat.

My second WIP I am actually going to keep most details under wraps as I am testing this pattern. BUT so far it is a very enjoyable knit. The end product is a baby sweater with fairisle/ colorwork detail and it is one I am very excited about finishing. When the opportunity came up for test knitters I jumped on board as this piece is getting me to test my skills as a knitter. I have only ever made 1 sweater which was an extend shoulder and made in 2 pieces- needless to say there is a reason you will probably never see photos!- and the only baby sweater that I have ever made was a little vest- conveniently avoiding all those pesky fit issues. I have wanted to start sweater knitting for a while but have always lacked a bit of the courage I felt I needed to begin. Having the opportunity to test knit this pattern has forced me to step outside my comfort zone and take the plunge! Colorwork has also been on my “to-do” list so this is accomplishing many of the techniques I have been wanting to learn; all while conveniently not committing to an adult size garment. That and who doesn’t love a baby knit… and then I get to let my baby girl wear next fall so it truly is a 360 win!

Pattern/ Designer: UNDER WRAPS

Yarn:Madelinetosh TOSH SOCK in color Astrid Grey (link to main website, will have to check stockists for where to buy)

Finally for this first weekly round-up… the Masala Shawl….. Oh…Emmmm….Geeeeeeee- I LOVE this pattern, head over heals love it. This pattern came to me via a Quince & Co email promoting the Spice collect a few months ago and it was one of those moments where you knew it was fate, I was destined to knit and add this shawl to my ever-growing collection! So pattern purchased and yarn located at Rhinebeck this past October.

I’m currently about 2/3 of the way done with this shawl but I have finally hit a point where it has grown so big it feels like forever before I get through a row or two. This was a great subway knit project but will have to be left at home as it is now too much to comfortably carry and knit on the train. It has also lovingly become a project I associate with the new book Slow Knitting by Hannah Thiessen. I remind myself to slow down and enjoy the journey of creating this shawl for my wardrobe. ( And as an aside….If my memory is correct I even met the designer at her store in Brooklyn; Gauge & Tension, before it closed its doors a while back…)

PS: The link to Slow Knitting will take you to a big box store; if and when you can I would encourage to shop small and local! I’ve noticed most LYS do carry or could certainly order so ask around if you do not want to order direct from link! 🙂

I’ve been recently thinking on some of the best ways to get my knitting, writing and Etsy shop more traffic and one of the first things that came to mind was changing my Instagram account back to a public account. While I used to have it set up as public I recently decided I needed a private place for me. That being said I was finally able to set up an Instagram account solely dedicated to just to knitting, Etsy, etc!

I’ts done!- finished, finito! Oh I’m so thrilled with the result! The first of many knits I already have planned for myself was finished about a week and a half ago…

Now, I still have to block but you can believe that I wore this beauty as soon as it was finished. In my defense as well, blocking has not yet been completed because lace blocking wires were recommended to get the proper shape and I did not have any!

So while I’m waiting for these blocking wires to arrive this scarf is mine to wear!

**note that pattern is actually designed for Loft, I substituted and used Shelter instead.

Length of time to complete: about a month, I had another project on my needles at the same time, so maybe only 3 weeks if it had been the only piece I had been working on…

Project Notes: Because I substituted yarns, I actually ended up with more yarn than I needed. Now while my math (worked out with a very helpful employee at Purl Soho) was correctly calculated, out of the 8 skeins purchased, I only needed 6! I would have more than likely used 6 1/2 skeins however when I was 1/3 of the way through the project I realized I was shorting my moss stitch sections by 4 rows (oops!- really, I CAN count though….). This worked to my advantage as I was able to adjust the remaining pattern to accommodate the mistake (which you would never have know about until now….) The remaining yarn is being used up as a little stockinette/ jersey roll beanie (more to come on this!) which is something else I have wanted to make for myself so really this was a win/win.

Now that I have finally finished off all of the knitted things I wanted to make for everyone else, I can finally dedicate some time to knitting something for me…ALL FOR ME!! I purchased the Ludlow from Brooklyn Tweed almost a year ago and had been waiting for the right time to start…

And that time was now!!

**an early progress status…

I also had this strong urge to make something- anything- in BLACK. And I haven’t seemed to be the only one wanting to knit in black. A couple other knitters I follow and know have been drawn to the darker yarns recently… Hello handknit trend..

But anyways..the Ludlow; while the pattern calls to use Brooklyn Tweed’s Loft yarn, I favor their Shelter a little bit more so along with a very friendly and helpful employee in NYC’s Purl Soho, I managed to substitute and work out the math to have the pattern accommodate Shelter.

I am about a third of the way through and could not be more pleased with how it is turning out…